Microtech Settles Lawsuit with Blogger Anthony Sculimbrene

Today, Anthony Marfione and Microtech’s lawsuit against blogger Anthony Sculimbrene of EverydayCommentary.com has been resolved. A release and settlement agreement has been signed by both parties.

The settlement brings an end to the legal action that was filed on January 31st following Sculimbrene’s blog post entitled “The Story Behind the Greatest Knife of All Time.” According to the original complaint, the story was a “purposeful attack” that had a lasting impact on Microtech’s commercial reputation. Microtech subsequently filed a suit against KAI USA Ltd and KAI social media manager Kale Beyer for sharing the blog post through their social media channels. Tensions between Microtech and KAI USA appear to trace back at least to 2011.

Sculimbrene has agreed to perform 700 hours of service for the knife community over 4 years, the majority of which will be donated by Microtech to the American Knife and Tool Institute (AKTI). Microtech General Counsel Daniel Lawson tells us Sculimbrene will be utilizing his background as a public defender to help AKTI. “I was contributing legal counsel for the AKTI for 15 years. But I don’t have a criminal law background. Hopefully, the entire industry can benefit from Sculimbrene’s legal experience and love of knives.”

Sculimbrene has also agreed to issue a retraction as part of the settlement. “I think Mr. Sculimbrene sincerely recognizes that what he said was untrue,” Lawson tells us. Sculimbrene will be meeting with Marfione to discuss how and when the retraction will go out. Lawson is clear that Sculimbrene will maintain full control of the content of the retraction. “It’s expected that he will make a retraction, but he’ll have to come up with that wording. We’re not putting words in his mouth.”

As part of the settlement, Sculimbrene has also agreed to hand over documents to Microtech related to his communications with Thomas Welk, Director of Sales and Marketing at KAI USA. Microtech say these communications will be helpful in their ongoing lawsuit against KAI and the company’s social media manager Kale Beyer.

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